The clip above comes from the strange, but logical Spaghetti Western and chanbara combination flick, Red Sun.

Directed by Terence Young of England, shot in Spain, and starring a cast made up of stars from the U.S., Japan, and every corner of Europe, Red Sun stands as one of the single most culturally diverse films of it’s time.

I don’t think I have to tell you, it was a product of the bizarre cultural climate of the era known as “The 70’s.”

I have no fucking clue why Sonny Chiba is wearing a velcro suit. Don't bother asking, it was the 70's.

That being said, while the film is hardly one of the best of Charles Bronson or Toshiro Mifune’s career, any movie that feature such legends of MANLY badassery deserves a watch or 2.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for The Challenge, AKA that one movie with a badass Scott Glenn at the height of his powers, and Mifune wearing a ridiculous fucking wig:

Yup, that's exactly the kind of face I'd make if I had a shitty ass wig glued to my head.

In any case, it’s worth noting that the clip above has obviously been edited, in my opinion for the better.

Sadly, Mifune did not in fact toss Charles Bronson around for 2-3 minutes in the actual film, rather he only did so for about 20-30 seconds.

In case you couldn’t tell from my post yesterday, I’ve got Mifune on the brain.

Mind you, nobody said that was a bad thing.

That being said, the clip above another one of those innumerable Youtube videos that I’m still kicking myself over not having put together on my own.

The kill count might not be all that high by Schwarzenegger-ian and Stallone-ian standards, but when it comes to impressive displays of legit kenjutsu choreography; there are few better examples than those found in Yojimbo.

Besides the awesomeness of the choreography, another great aspect of this video is the fact that it has a track from the incomparable Masaru Sato’s score for the movie playing over it; which is always a treat.

It’s funny, I’ve only seen Hiroshi Inagaki’sSamurai Trilogyonce in my life, and yet to this day I can still recall many of the sights and sounds almost at will.

To this day, the Samurai movies maintain a very special place in my heart.

They were the first subtitled films I ever saw.

They were the first samurai movies I ever saw.

And perhaps more importantly, they served as my introduction to the walking symbol of MANLY Japanese badassery that was Toshiro Mifune.

He's got more badass in his little finger than you've got in your entire bloodline.

While I’m sure how much relevance he has with the youth of today, what with the prevalence of stories/movies/anime with bumbling or overly emotional male protagonists, and y’know, that Glee horseshit; in my mind Mifune’s samurai performances stand as the single strongest example of what an Asian male should aspire to be.

When I was a little kid, I remember my mom and her sisters telling me stories about “The 8 Samurai” movies that they watched in the theater as children.

In all, it took 20 years of research and picking of my aunties’ brains to figure out exactly which version was the one they saw so many years ago; making this evening’s viewing particularly significant in terms of nostalgic value.

Truth be told, despite some truly bizarre and hokey effects; Satomi Hakkenden was actually pretty action-packed for it’s time, and definitely worth watching.

It was especially fun getting to hear my mom excitedly yell, “Hey! I remember that!” every so often.